Beastie Boys, Vampire Weekend Do Obama Shows

As do the Black Keys, Santogold, the Mae Shi, These United States

I think it's fair to say, at this point, indie rockers have chosen their candidate for next month's presidential election: that one.

The Senator from Illinois has already earned the support of, well, a lot of the music makers and dreamers of dreams, and with November 4 looming in the minds of just about everyone, even more artists are banding together in support of Barack Obama's bid for the White House.

First up is a gig tomorrow (October 11) at Los Angeles' the Smell, which finds the Mae Shi, Bad Dudes, Bastidas, and the Widow Babies joining up for an Obama fundraiser. The event is being put on by Noise for Obama, that nifty website we mentioned a while back that gathers fans of Democrats and decibels alike.

Sunday (October 12) at New York City's St. Raphael's church, Vampire Weekend, David Crosby, and known Brit Graham Nash will perform "intimate, short acoustic sets" at a benefit for Music for Democracy's Be the Change GOTV (Get Out the Vote) campaign. That effort aims to boost the youth vote by support "progressive netroots technology." After all, nothing says youthful exuberance like, um, David Crosby.

Back on the West Coast, These United States and a "surprise headliner" will take the stage at San Francisco's Independent October 15 as part of Barack 'n Roll, a fundraising effort for obamatravel.org. That particular organization aims to help shuttle Obama volunteers to key swing states. That's just a day before the Breeders and the National hit up Cincinnati in support of the Obama/Biden campaign.

If you'd prefer to dance out your frustrations with the thought of a McCain/Palin regime, the fabulous DJ Z-Trip has crafted a free "Obama mix", a 54-minute mash-up of "uplifting and motivating calls to action in support of" the Illinois Senator that can be downloaded here.

Or, should the pumping of fists be more your style, you can shake 'em in the general direction of Mr. McCain, who's been using the Foo Fighters' "My Hero" without their permission at his campaign rallies. The band is pissed, declaring in a statement that McCain's campaign has "appropriated [the tune] without our knowledge and used [it] in a manner that perverts the original sentiment of the lyric [and] just tarnishes the song." Maybe you wanna ask Meghan for a little advice on the matter? Er, on second thought...